And the Worm Turns
by randomplotbunny
Summary: Harry escapes the cemetery and certain death at the hands of Voldemort, but his adventure is only just beginning. With a new friend in a man-eating worm, a new perspective on his life and his independent streak being nurtured by his environment will Harry willingly return to England and the Wizarding World when given the chance to do so? Will he want to?
1. Chapter 1

_AN: I_ 've _written another Tremors/Harry Potter crossover! After the last one I just couldn't stop thinking about this idea and just had to write it out. Hope you like it! :-D_

 _Warning: there will be Dumbledore and select Weasley bashing in this story. So if you are a fan of Dumbles, Molly, Ron or Ginny turn back now, I'm not going to go gentle on them or give them good reasons for doing what they've been doing._

 _And let's all just assume that Hagrid gave Harry the mokeskin pouch for his fourteenth birthday instead of his seventeenth. The thing was just way too useful a plot device to not have here._

 **Disclaimer: Neither Harry Potter of Tremors is owned by myself or anyone I know, though it would be really cool if they were.**

 _§ parsletongue §_

Fourteen year old Harry Potter raced across the cemetery, dodging curses and Death Eaters, grabbed Cedric's body and called for for the trophy-portkey; hoping to escape from the nightmare he'd found himself in.

He never noticed the last curse Voldemort shot at him as he was hooked behing the navel and spun away. It hadn't been meant to hit him anyway.

Voldemort smirked cruelly as the boy escaped. His last curse, one of his own design, ensuring that the boy would never make it home, or ever be found.

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

Harry spun for what felt like hours, losing his hold on Cedric's body at some point but unable to wrench his hand away from the trophy. By the time he slammed into a hard packed ground he was unsure if he had actually stopped moving or not.

Once the world had settled a bit and stopped trying to buck him off, Harry lifted his head and took note of the desert landscape surrounding him. The oppressive heat alone was enough to tell him that he wasn't in England any more.

Reaching for the trophy, hoping against hope that it would work for a third time and finally take him home, Harry could only stare in horror as it melted away into nothing as soon as he touched it. He had no way back now.

Wherever he was, he was stuck.

Attempting to stand so as to see more of the place he had landed in, Harry collapsed back down with a cry once he tried putting weight on his leg. In all the excitement of the Ritual and the fight with Voldemort he had completely forgotten about the Acromantula bite on his leg. Thinking about his leg made him remember his arm, which was still sluggishly bleeding, and take notice of all his other aches and pains.

He needed medical help and had no way to get it.

Laying on the ground, contemplating his situation and burning under the hot sun- he had to be at least halfway around the world for the sun to be still so high in the sky- it took Harry longer than it should have to remember the mokeskin pouch around his neck. A pouch that Hermione had been obsessively packing for him with more and more stuff for weeks now in order to try and help him prepare for anything the final task could throw at him. The only item he'd placed inside it himself was his Invisibility Cloak.

He had no idea what all was in there, he'd stopped asking after she gave him a three foot inventory list after her second packing session- mostly books borrowed from the library, he hadn't had the heart to tell her that he wouldn't be able to stop in the middle of the Task to pull out a book for reference and had just accepted it, and now he just hoped she wouldn't get into too much trouble with not being able to return them- and just really hoped she had packed at least one first-aid kit.

Pulling the pouch open Harry rummaged a minute before giving up, he had found nothing but books so far, and picked up his wand. If he was brought up on charges for Underage Magic use then he was fine with that, so long as it led to him being rescued.

A quick Accio had six different first-aid kits flying out at him, one specifically for venomous creature bites and stings. Harry sent a silent thanks to Hermione for her over-preparedness.

Dumping a potion on his leg Harry screamed as the poison bubbled out of his veins, more painful coming out than it had been getting bit. Swallowing a Bezor and a Blood Replenisher and putting Dittany on his arm, he waited until the bubbling ended before casting an Aquamenti to wash the poison away and clean the wound. A few drops of Dittany later and his leg was as good as he could make it.

He was going to have some new knarly scars to add to his collection.

What he hadn't counted on was the Magical Exhaustion to hit him so hard after his few spells and send his head spinning. Harry realized that after the Task and the fight in the graveyard that he must be running on the equivalent of Magical fumes.

He held on just long enough to get everything back in his pouch, shoving his wand in too so it wouldn't roll away on him, before he let himself passout as his exhausted body demanded he do. Not even caring that he was doing so exposed to the elements and the relentless sun overhead.

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

Harry stirred awake at the faint sounds of someone speaking, the feeling of something organic running along one of his outstretched arms pulling him even closer to wakefulness.

Opening his eyes Harry came face to mouth with a large, pale pink, snake. So Harry did what came natural in such a situation: he screamed.

 _§ Get back! §_ Harry tried to move away from the snake but found his movements sluggish, his body still too exhausted to follow commands precisely.

 _§ Speaker? §_ Harry looked up and around, wondering where the hissed question had come from as it hadn't been from the snake in front of him. His eyes then wided as the snake slide backwards into a hole in the ground and the ground just to the side of him heaved up and a giant creature made itself known. _§_ _Speaker? §_

Harry's already stressed, and now heatstroke addled, mind couldn't deal with yet another problem on top of all the ones he'd already had to deal with. So with a quietly hissed _§_ _Bugger my life. §_ Harry slid back into the welcoming embrace of unconciousness.

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

It was blessedly cool when Harry woke up again, the coolness finally making Harry aware of just how dangerously hot he had been, but in utter darkness when he tried opening his eyes.

At first he thought he had either gone blind or was blindfolded, but after a few minutes his eyes adjusted enough so he could see faint green luminous... somethings up on what he had to assume was a ceiling. Feeling around for his pouch and pulling out his wand, Harry cast an under-powered Lumos- not wanting to pass out again from the drain of a fully powered spell- and took a look at his surroundings.

He was in a large cavern, no opening to the surface anywhere to be seen from his present vantage point, with a still lake maybe a dozen paces or so away from where he lay. He couldn't see the far side from where he lay with his weak light.

Something brushing against his ankle had Harry giving a shout and turning over, only to be confronted by the worm-like creature he had started to think had been only a heat induced hallucination sticking partway out of the cavern's wall, a part of the wall that looked like it had caved in at some point as it was surrounded by packed dirt rather than the rock the rest of the cavern looked to be made of.

Reaching up to clear his glasses for a better look at the creature, finally noticing they were coated in something slightly sticky that was drying fast, Harry wondered if the creature- whose tongue-tentacle was still caressing his leg- had brought him here. And if so, how?

Trying to find a clean spot on his robe to clean his glasses with was proving hard as Harry noticed it wasn't only his glasses that had been coated in the sticky-slimey-stuff.

Looking again at the creature, that had neither eyes to see him with nor arms to carry him with, Harry came to the horrible realization that the thing must have carried him in its mouth to bring him here. The thought was altogether horrifying, disgusting and trust building.

If the thing was big enough to swallow him whole, but hadn't, then it likely wasn't going to harm him. Right?

 _§ Injured Speaker is awake? §_ Harry jumped a little, having forgotten for a moment that the thing could speak Parsletongue.

 _§ I'm awake. §_ Harry hissed back, only then realizing how dry his throat was as he forced the hisses out. If he'd been attempting human speech he'd likely be croaking his words as he felt so dry. How long had he been laying in the sun unconscious? _§ Where am I? §_

 _§ Speaker is safe now. §_ The creature then began backing out of the cavern and moving away into its tunnels.

 _§ Yes, thank you for rescuing me, but where_ am _I?! §_ Harry yelled after the creature as it continued to move away, inciting himself to the coughing fit he had known was coming.

 _§ Safe. §_ Harry barely heard the creature's reply over his coughing, but heard it he did.

Once he had his breathing back under control Harry dug in his pouch until he found something to drink- silently thanking Hermione once more, especially after the first sip told him that he'd found orange juice- while thinking about how he was going to get out of this situation as it was obvious now that no one was coming to follow up on his use of Underage Magic.

He had no ideas and could only hope an opportunity presented itself at a later time.

Canceling his Lumos after putting the flask back as he was starting to feel the slight drain on his core from it, and then putting his wand in the pouch too so he wouldn't lose it in the dark of the lightless cavern, Harry lay back on the slightly rocky ground and watched the tiny green lights up on the ceiling until he fell back to sleep.

For now all he could do was wait and try to heal and get stronger, he wouldn't be going anywhere until he could hold a spell longer than a few minutes without it draining him.

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

Severus Snape, a man of two Masters, strode into the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts after his first Death Eater meeting in thirteen years. He had bad news.

"Did you find out what happened to Harry, Severus?" The old man behind the desk asked, his face set in a worried frown.

"I found out what happened, yes, though not what has become of the boy." Dumbledore's bushy eyebrows drew together as he tried to work out the riddle behind the answer. "It seems that after being used in a Ritual to return the Dark Lord to a physical form, suffering under multiple bouts of the Cruciatus Curse at the Dark Lord's own hand and managing to shrug off the Dark Lord's Imperius the boy still somehow managed to beat the Dark Lord in a duel, fight his way through the dozen or so Death Eaters that had been there to see it all happen, get to the body of the already deceased Mr Diggory and call for the trophy that, as you know, was a portkey." Severus paused dramatically, enjoying for once being the one to draw out the reveal of information and give the old man a taste of his own medicine.

"And then, my boy? If young Harry had got hold of the trophy it should have brought him back to school grounds as the other destination would have already been used up taking him away." Severus hid his suspicions about just how the Headmaster knew that the portkey destinations had been layered on top of each other rather than one replacing the other and carried on with his report.

"Mr Potter did indeed get hold of the trophy, but at the same time it was activated the Dark Lord sent a curse of his own making towards it." Severus frowned then, secretly impressed with the ingenuity behind the curse but not wanting the Light Lord in front of him to know that. "The Dark Lord was in a gloating mood and explained that the curse was designed to overwrite the destination of the activated portkey and send it off to any number of random locations that meet its criteria before disintegrating the item used so it could not be used to get back. Its set criteria being that the place must be exceptionally dangerous, meaning it must have a high mortality rate, be an environment the victim has little to no experience with and be a Magical Deadzone." The old Headmaster clinched his fists at that last bit of news.

A Magical Deadzone was a place that Magic could not see into. No tracking spells- not even the powerful Dark ones that use someone's blood- owl mail, Magic detecting devices or even Divination scrying techniques could find someone when they where in a Magical Deadzone. No method known or used by Wizarding-kind could find someone in one of those zones. It was as if they had ceased to exsist.

Even the Wizarding Wireless and Floo connections were blocked in those places, and Apparating only worked if you had an incredibly large Core, they were completely cut off from all outside Magical influences save for Portkeying. Though using Magic while inside one was no problem, something that confused Magical researchers to no end.

And there were thousands of known Deadzones all over the world, and possibly thousands more uncharted ones. It would be a guessing game to try and find which one Harry Potter had been sent to, and there was no guarantee that they would find the boy in time before something killed him.

"This is tragic news, Severus, very tragic. Without Mr Potter's testimony I fear we may not be able to convince the Ministry that Voldemort is back, and if he has been taken to as dangerous a place as you say he has then," he let out a world weary sigh, "I fear the worst." Dumbledore dismissed his Potions Master and spy, looking as old and tired as a man who had just been given such grave news should.

But once the door was closed and he was alone again the Headmaster sat up straight with a devious smirk on his lips.

Oh, it was tragic that the Potter Heir had been killed so soon, that was indeed true, but only as it had happened before the Marriage Contract to young Miss Weasley could be finalized. But still, they may not have the Lordship tied up but they still had the fortune due to Harry having 'written' his Will when he was eleven to leave everything to his 'beloved' Headmaster and updated it at twelve to include his 'good friends' in the Weasley family.

Now all he had to do was have the Ministry declare the boy dead and then those nasty Goblins, who had never allowed him to take more than a few thousand Galleons or a handful of rare artifacts from the Potter Vaults per year even though he had paperwork from the Ministry stating he was allowed to take it all if he so wished, would have to give him everything he deserved and had been denied for too long.

And as for Voldemort? Well, Tom would be no challenge.

Two of his Horcruxes had already been destroyed, one by his own design no less, and he knew where the others lay. Once they were gone Tom would be weak enough to kill, and just like before the Dark Faction would disband with the fall of their leader and peace would be had once more.

Only this time it would be he, Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, that would be revered as a hero by the people, not some sniviling baby still dirtying his nappies, and all would be as it should have been all along.


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: I couldn't resist putting up the second chapter so soon. Enjoy!_

 _AN.2: Someone may ask why Harry doesn't try Apparating out and I'd like to answer that before it becomes an issue: Harry doesn't experience Apparating until just before his sixth year so doesn't know what it is yet, and if he runs across it in one of the books Hermione packed him the list of warnings- such as losing limbs or your head- will be enough to keep him from trying it._

 **Disclaimer: If you recognize it it isn't mine.**

"I'm telling you all that something is going on with that worm!" Burt Gummer, Perfection's resident survivalist and paranoid conspiracy theorist, complained over his coffee at Chang's, a complaint that was quickly becoming repetitive.

For just over a month now El Blanco had been keeping itself close to the far end of the Valley, not even coming into town as it used to do, and being highly aggressive towards anyone or anything that tried to approach its newly claimed territory. No one knew what to make of the sudden change in its behavior, though most had just accepted it as yet another mystery of Graboid behavior that they weren't likely to get an answer for, something Burt didn't seem able to accept.

"Well, whatever is going on with El Blanco is good for business, at least. All I have to do is take the tourists out to the far side of the Valley, let them snap a few photos and leave. No more trying to predict where he'll show up at or if he even will." Tyler Reed, Desert Jack's successor for the Graboid Tours business, said to try and distract the older man from his obsessive thoughts.

A useless effort, but he could at least say he tried.

"I'm going to figure out what is going on with that worm if it kills me." Burt grumbled as he finished his coffee, paid Jodi and got ready to go check on the albino Graboid. Again. For the third time that morning.

"Don't say things like that, Burt, not in this Valley. You never know if it will come true or not." Nancy called to his retreating back, not getting any acknowledgement that he had even heard her and not expecting one.

The three friends left in the General Store exchanged worried glances, all concerned over the survivalists increased obsession with their resident Graboid.

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

Harry had no idea how long he had been down here in this lightless void. He'd slept a lot, he knew, but it was hard not too when there was no light to tell the passage of the days and his only indicator that he should be asleep or awake was his own energy levels. The worm had been no help as it's entire concept of time passing was based on how many meals it had had since the last time it spoke to Harry, its Speaker.

Harry had a feeling that the worm, while rather good at problem solving- it had realized he was in need of help and had brought him to a safe place to heal, after all- was dumber than most animals. Though that could also have something to do with a difference of perception, Harry mused. He'd never been blind himself before and had no way of knowing how one went about perceiving the world without sight.

It might have been days, or even weeks for all Harry knew, before he'd been strong enough to stand while holding a lit Lumos- instead of having to choose between one or the other as he was too weak to do both at once- and explore his surroundings.

The cavern stretched for fifteen paces to his left and eighty to his right before it curved in and met the water. The ceiling arched high over his head. With his strongest Lumos Harry was just able to see the far wall of the cavern where it met water, it had to be at least a couple hundred yards away, the clear stillness of the water letting him see that the cavern extended for quite a ways underwater; but without an accurate way to judge distance he had no idea how far it actually went.

The green lights on the ceiling had turned out to be luminous mold, dripping every once in a while to add to the large pool of water.

There was no life in the cavern, if one didn't count himself or the worm that visited him periodically, the only thing of interest being the twenty or so large white egg looking things that rested at the bottom of the pool of water. Harry was hesitant to try to get one out for a better look, not wanting to know what it might hatch into if it was still viable- and with his luck it would be.

It had taken a few meandering trips from one end of his personal lake to the other for Harry to decide that the only way out was through the worm's tunnels, and a short exploration of those showed that they were unstable and prone to collapsing- thankfully he hadn't been buried deep and had still been rather close to the cavern- so escaping to the surface on his own wasn't an option.

And the worm, when asked, always just repeated that _§ Speaker is safe. Speaker stays. §_ before leaving again, presumably to hunt for food or to guard Harry's position. It wasn't a very chatty worm, though as time passed Harry came to crave the short moments of interaction he had with the other living soul.

Once he knew that he wasn't escaping the old fashioned way Harry turned to the books Hermione had packed in the hopes that one of them would provide a solution.

She really had packed half the library, Harry mused as he emptied the contents of his pouch against the cavern wall to keep it away from the water and dripping mold. There was at least two books present for every subject, there were eight on different types of creatures alone- not one of which mentioned anything even remotely similar to his worm at a quick glance- and several that looked to have come from the Restricted Section.

By the time he was done emptying his pouch Harry was shocked. He had eighty-four books on various subjects- not one that contained a time keeping spell, though, at least not one that didn't require access to the sun or stars; Harry really wished the time checking spells were taught before fifth year- the six first-aid kits that he knew of, eighteen flasks of drinkables, fifty prepackaged meals, a plethora of snacks and candy, two changes of clothing- he was SO glad to get out of his blood and spit soaked robes- a music box full of popular music from both the Magical and Muggle Worlds, two lanterns and a dozen candles, a cauldron, a fully stocked potions kit, his Firebolt- Harry wondered when Hermione had put that in there as he remembered polishing it the night before the Task- and his Invisibiity Cloak.

All he was missing was a bed and he'd be set, Harry mused as he set one of the lanterns up and picked up an interesting looking book titled Living in the Rough by one Micheal Dundee. An hour or so later, he really had no way of knowing, after a bit of practice, Harry had the bed his was missing.

It was just a patch of dirt made soft and warm, but it was so much better than the cold hard dirt he'd been sleeping on before.

And that is how Harry began passing his time: reading and learning. Hermione would be so proud, Harry thought, though unimpressed that it took being trapped in an underground cavern with nothing to do but read to get Harry to actually take an interest in advancing his education.

He'd read until his eyes grew tired, practice what spells he could without collapsing the cavern until he became hungry and then pace the cavern until he grew tired. And when he woke up again he'd repeat the same cycle. He wondered if he was even sleeping a full eight hours or just taking a lot of naps between activities, or maybe he was sleeping twelve or more hours a day and was almost never up. He really wished he had a way to tell.

He had memorized every song in the music box before too long, he had even lost his fear of the egg things in the water to pull one out and examine it. He'd put it back when the worm had come by and confirmed that it had come out of a similar egg and that being underwater wouldn't hurt it. They would hatch when they were ready too and not before, no matter where they where or how long they remained there.

After that Harry had added swimming to his small list of activities, even teaching himself the Bubblehead Charm so he could explore further. He never managed to reach the end of the underwater caverns before he had to turn back or risk his spell ending and him drowning, though, and he really wondered just how far they extended.

Harry was just starting the last chapter in one of the books on creatures- he'd hoped that there might be a note somewhere inside one of them about even a rumor of a giant killer worm, but there hadn't been one yet- it was one that dealt more with their uses, both living and dead, and spells to use on them to get the most use out of them when he finally found something that could help him get out of the cavern, though not away from the worm.

The Familiar Bond.

It was a Ritual more than a Spell so would be more difficult to perform, but it would up the creature's reasoning faculties allowing Harry to convince it to help him leave. And the more Harry read on the Familiar Bond the more convinced he was that it was the answer to his problems, but it would also create new problems of its own.

The Familiar Bond was a _permanent_ Bond between Wizard and animal, on both Magical and Mental levels.

The animal would get a massive increase in intellegence, usually to the same level as the Witch or Wizard it was being Bonded to, though it would still keep all its animalistic instincts- its intellegence level was described as watching an Animagus perform their daily activities while in their animal form, it had human reasoning skills but was still inheritantly an animal- as well as an extended life. The Wizard would get a massive increase to their Magical Core as the animal would become an extention of said Core- the larger the animal the larger the increase, though it was warned that a near Squib level Wizard tried to use an elephant as a Familiar and blew himself up as the sudden and massive increase in his Core size was too great for his body to handle- and a Grounding Focus, meaning Wandless Magic and Internalized Magic- Healing and Mental Magics as well as the Animagus transformation- would be much easier to master.

The Familiar would only die once its Wizard did so and would remain unaging until that day, the exception to this being immortal creatures such as the Phenix. The death of the Familiar would greatly weaken, sometimes even kill, the Wizard as it would literally be destroying a part of their Core, so Familiars were heavily protected by those few Witches and Wizards that chose to use them. Rune based Wards were a favorite for this.

There was also the fact that during the Ritual the Bonding Pair would relive each other's lives, as a way to get to know each other on the most intimate of levels as well as to forge the mental link that would allow them to speak with each other even over great distances and share new memories and experiences. This usually wasn't a problem for the Witch or Wizard as they would simply get to know how their Familiar perceived the world and how its instincts worked as they relived its life, usually the life of being raised in a pet store before being bought. The animal, on the other hand, often had strong reactions to all the new memories and experiences flooding its mind. Often they interpreted things differently than their human had when they lived through the experience and formed their own opinions about the people in their person's life.

It was recommended to listen to your Familiar in these instances and not just dismiss their concerns, often times they picked up on things you didn't and are correct in their assessments.

There was a long list of warnings after the details of the Bond were given and before the steps were explained- mostly about making sure to not mess up the drawing of the Runes, which could easily kill the animal, or to overpower them, which would cause a much deeper Bond than normal and in some instances even allow the animal the use of magic to a small degree- but one of the warnings took up an entire page and was about not doing the Ritual in a Magically saturated place as the Bonding process would cause a devestating backlash. As there was nothing Harry could do to confirm or deny if he was in a Magically satuated place he chose to take the Gryffindor route and ignore that particular warning, almost forgetting about the other warnings as he did so.

The Ritual itself was fairly straight forward, if difficult for someone who didn't know Runes or who was squeamish about blood, and all Harry really needed was for the worm to show up. Until then he practiced drawing the Runes in the dirt with a rock so he wouldn't get them wrong.

When the worm finally showed up again Harry had no idea that it was his birthday, not that it would have made a difference for him or the Ritual, but he would have liked to know.

The worm readily agreed to becoming Harry's Familiar- _§ I will stay with Speaker and protect Speaker always. §_ \- and soon Harry was painting Runes on the worm's head in his own blood and pushing his Magic through them.

Harry and the worm both passed out as the last Rune was activated, he'd gotten them right but in his inexperience he'd overpowered them... by a lot.

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

In a secure room deep inside the Bank of Gringotts a Blood Diamond, one of many lining the shelves, keyed to the House of Potter by Goblin Magic began to glow, indicating that either the Head of the Family or the Heir had taken a Familiar. As there was only one member of that family left, and he was in the process of being declared dead after only a cursory search by the Wizards, the Goblins had no choice but to do a full audit on the Potter Accounts and Family Tree to verify that Harry Potter was indeed the only member of that family left and thus he must be alive to have taken a Familiar.

A day later and the Wizards and Witches of Diagon Alley were all giving the Bank and its inhabitants a wide berth as the Goblins all seemed angrier than usual, snapping and snarling and acting as if someone had been stealing their gold right out from under them.

They had no idea how right that description was. Goblins detested thieves, especially clever ones who had gotten away with it for years.


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: Just_ _so there isn't any confusion: the beginning of this chapter is El Blanco's life as seen and lived by Harry. It is NOT the way a Graboid thinks but the way Harry interprets the instinctive knowledge and reasoning of an animal.  
It mostly covers the plot of Tremors 3 as I don't know the series well enough yet to put its plot line here from a Graboid's point of view, though there are a few hints of it. _

_Do please let me know if it makes sense or not. Thanks!_

 **Disclaimer: Not mine!**

 _§ parsletongue §_

 _flashback/vision_

 _)_

 _Harry pressed against the casing holding him in, needing out of his confinement, his egg, and knowing this was the only way to do it. With a mighty heave he was finally free of the shell that had surrounded him for so long._

 _He felt the world around him for the first time, feeling all the movements of potential food around him. He was newborn and so very hungry._

 _Harry knew there was something wrong with him, his clutchmates had all already moved on and given birth to the second generation, that would then multiply and give birth to the last generation before they then would lay the eggs that would start the cycle over once more. But he remained._

 _He was a freak. He was useless. He was alone._

 _All he could do was continue to eat and hope to one day have eaten enough to give birth and move on as the others had. He had to hope. He didn't want to be left behind, to be alone._

 _There was a noise, just on the edge of perception. It was interesting. It was distracting. He wanted to be distracted. He followed it, wanting to know what it was. It moved around and seemed to always be near or surrounded by food. And always one food in particular. What was it? Why did it remain so close to a food?_

 _He had gotten close to the noise, and the food it followed, but still didn't understand. What was it? Then he was distracted by food noises and gave chase, but then the hurtful-loudness drove him away. But he could still follow the interesting noise, it and the food it traveled with. Why did it travel with the food? Was the food special? He could not get closer to find out, not yet, but he would. He would be patient and go around the unmoving dirt and meet the interesting noise and its food on the other side. He had nothing else to do, after all. He was alone._

 _More hurtful-loudness kept him away from the interesting noise, and it came from where the interesting noise had first been with its food. What was going on? Was something trying to hurt the interesting noise?_

 _The food the noise followed was so close and this was his chance to taste it and see what it was, find out why the interesting noise folowed it so much, but there was much noise going on and he was getting frustrated at all the obstacles between himself and learning about the noise._

 _One of the last generation, who he could tell had already dropped its eggs and so was now as useless as he and therefore food, suddenly had the noise and Harry lashed out in anger and swallowed it. The noise was his, the noise and the food it had followed both, and he didn't want a generation he had no part in making taking that from him. He had so little now as he now knew he was a freak and would never birth the second generation and help continue the cycle._

 _Time pssed._

 _The noise's food came back with many more interesting noises and Harry decided that he wasn't going to eat this food as it was interesting and kept him distracted. How it managed to move the noises without being near them he had to wonder, it was such clever food._

 _There were a bunch of foods that the noise's food always returned to before going off on its own again. Were those foods its clutchmates? He wouldn't eat those foods either as he didn't want the noise's food to be alone like he was. He didn't like being alone._

 _He passed through the foods nest every once in a while just to show them that they were safe-food, they were food-he-would-not-eat, even the food who had come later, who brought the loud food into his hunting grounds, that food would be safe too._

 _But if the loud food ever moved away from the safe-food then he would be sure to eat them, they weren't part of the nest of safe-food after all._

 _Time passed._

 _He had found a Speaker! It was hurt and needed help and he knew just where to take it, the same place he had taken all the eggs he had found while hunting, to keep them safe. To protect them. To prove he still had a use even though there was no one else who would know. But now he had a Speaker of his very own, the Speaker would know! The Speaker would stay with him so he wouldn't be alone anymore!_

 _The venomous ground crawlers were going to be so jealous!_

 _The Speaker wanted to leave the safe place, leave him... why? He was a good protector! He kept the food away from where the Speaker rested and healed, even the safe-food! Was it because there was something wrong with him? Because he had never birthed the second generation? Was he too damaged that even a Speaker didn't want anything to do with him? He just didn't want to be alone anymore, and a Speaker was better even than having his clutchmates back!_

 _He just didn't want to be alone anymore._

 _Harry didn't understand what the Speaker was asking at first, the words 'familiar' and 'bonding' making no sense to him. But then the Speaker explained that it would mean that they would always be together, nothing would ever be able to split them apart, and he agreed. He could keep the Speaker safe always and prove that even though he could not birth the second generation he was still useful._

 _He would never be alone again..._

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

Harry woke up on the floor, three large and long snake-like tongues wrapped around him in a semblance of a hug. His nose was stuffed and his face felt wet and he realized he was crying, he didn't know how long he had been doing so but it felt like he had been for a while. Without thinking about it he turned his face until he could press it against his new Familiar's side and began to sob in earnest.

His poor Familiar, alone for so long. And he had hurt it- no, her; she was to give birth (in a way) to the next generation after all, even if she was unable to do so for whatever reason so she was still a she. He had hurt her by not being the friend she had wanted when she had rescued him.

Harry sobbed against his Familiar's side for a long while, letting out all the pain and emotion that she had never been able to express- had never known there was a need to or a way to express it- and slowly becoming aware of one of her tongues rubbing against his back in a soothing caress.

 _§ Calm yourself, my Harry, I am fine. I have you. §_ Harry slowly calmed, wiping his face on his shirt, before sitting back to look at his Familiar fully, her tongues still wrapped around him in a comforting embrace. _§ There now, that is better. §_ The tongues finally retracted back into the large mouth and Harry found himself immediately missing them.

 _§ You were alone for so long... §_ Harry could feel more tears wanting to spill at just the thought of how alone she had been and ducked his head to try and get them under control.

 _§ So were you. Though I think I had it better than you did. §_ Harry looked up in shock at that, nearly having forgotten that she would have experienced his life the same way he had experienced hers.

 _§ What do you mean? §_

 _§ I mean that I wasn't given false hope of true companionship. I may have been alone, as were you, but once you were given a chance at friendship you were taken advantage of. Lied to and betrayed. That is much worse than simply remaining alone! §_ Harry was stunned, he hadn't expected that at all.

 _§ No I wasn't! §_ He denied without thinking, always ready to defend his friends, even when they weren't there... even when they turned their backs on him...even when they didn't deserve it. But they were his friends! He had to stand by them! Because if he didn't then they would go away... and he'd be alone again.

 _§ Yes you were, but you blinded yourself to it so you wouldn't have to be alone again. §_ One of her tongues snaked out to rub at his hair in a soothing gesture to take the sting from her words. Harry knew she fully understood not wanting to be alone. _§ And I'll tell you this, if anyone besides your Hermione comes here looking for you I am going to eat them! And even then she needs to learn a lesson in not being petty when things don't go the way she wants them to! §_ Harry could only gape at the venom in his Familiar's tone.

 _§ Where is all this coming from? §_ Harry asked, wondering how she seemed to be putting things together that he had never thought of.

 _§ I am your Familiar. I remember what that book said about our Bond, just as I remember everything about your life up to the moment you started the Ritual- I would_ love _to meet the Dursleys_ _at some point, by the way- and_ _my intellegence is just, and only, as high as yours. I only seem more perceptive because you have been trained to not use your natural intellect and I am using it to its fullest. §_ She rubbed his hair again and Harry leaned into the caress for the comfort. He was startled to realize that he had been honestly and genuinely comforted more in the last few minutes- and by a giant killer worm no less!- than at anytime before in his life. It was a sad realization.

 _§ I wasn't trained to be dumb... §_ Harry tried to protest, only to be silenced by the unimpressed vibes coming off his Familiar. If she had had eyebrows Harry was sure she would have cocked one at him, at least that was the feeling he got by her silence.

 _§ You couldn't get better grades than Dudley without suffering for it, and he was dumber than a post so you had to be as well. Then you befriended Ron- something we will come back to at a later date- a boy who threw a tantrum if you so much as tried to open a book or do your homework, so you barely did either to keep your 'friend' happy and by your side. And then the one time you actively tried to do your best, at Hermione's insistance, you got the best grade in your year and she got all depressed about it before getting manic about having to study more. So you didn't try so hard again so that she could remain top of the class and happy. You. Were. Trained! §_ She gave one last caress to his hair before pulling her tongue back. _§ And now I have to untrain you. §_ Harry fet a spike of trepidation at that.

 _§ What do you mean? §_

 _§ 'A Familiar is a lifelong companion and helper, not a problem fixer.' §_ The worm quoted, it was a line from the text describing Familiars and Harry felt his stomache drop.

 _§ You're not helping me get out of this cave, are you. §_ Harry stated more than asked, already knowing the answer.

 _§ I'm not helping you get out of this cave, I don't need to. §_ Harry shot her a confused look _. § I know everything you know, so I know you know how to make your escape. You just have to 'think outside the box' and do it. §_ She then pulled herself back into her tunnel to leave and let Harry think on his own for a while. _§ And think of a name for me while I'm gone, I don't want to continue being called 'worm'! §_ Harry bit his lip, amused by the demanding tone.

 _§ Yes, mom! §_ Harry called, getting a wave of amusement in his mind in answer as their mental connection finally made itself known- that was going to take some gettiing used to he knew- and began wracking his brain for a suitable name for his Familiar. His giant, white, worm-like, man-eating, demanding, yet comforting, Familiar.

It was going to take a while.

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRRYPOTTER

Burt Gummer stood on an outcropping of rock that overlooked the area El Blanco had been keeping to lately as he tried to deduce just why the worm chose to stay there instead of going elsewhere where there would be a greater abundance of food.

His wrist-seismo going off had the survivalist lowering his field glasses to search for visual signs of El Blanco's approach. It took him a moment to realize that the worm had circled around behind him and way now beside his truck.

Burt could only look on in stupified wonder as the worm, a sightless creature with no concept of human ways, reared up out of the ground and began running its tongues over and around the inside of his truck as if searching for something. A few minutes later it seemed to have found it and was gone again.

Cautiously approaching his truck once he was sure El Blanco was gone again, Burt checked to see what had been taken. It was a stunned survivalist that called in a report a minute later.

"Jodi, Burt here. Do you copy?"

"Jodi here. What's up?"

"El Blanco just stole my lunch."

"What?!"

"El Blanco. He snuck up behind me, searched my truck, found my lunch box, and took it."

"Why?"

"I have no idea. Burt out."

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

Harry was searching through a few books in his large collection, trying to see if he could figure out what his Familiar had meant by his already knowing how to get out and also hoping to get inspiration as to a name for his Familiar as he had with Hedwig, when the worm returned.

Harry smiled up at his Familiar in greeting, even knowing she couldn't see it, but the smile became a bit frozen when she opened her mouth and spit out a lunch box.

 _§ What is that? §_

 _§ A treat! I know how much you've wanted something fresher and more varied than the prepackaged 'healthy junk' Hermione packed for you. §_ Harry blushed as his Familiar once again showed how well she knew him, even down to his less than appreciative thoughts about a friend who had been nothing but helpful with her over-preparedness.

 _§ Thank you. But where did you get it from? §_ The worm seemed to think a moment, seeming to be trying to find the right words more than to think up a lie.

 _§ The... person I once knew as the 'noise's food' has been watching this area, I got it from their vehicle. §_

 _§ And do you think the 'noise's food' will miss their lunch? §_ Harry asked even as he cast a spell on the lunch box to clean it of spit so he could open it.

 _§ They can always return to their nest... town if they want something to eat. You are stuck down here until you remember how to get yourself out and so don't have that option. §_ Harry cast his Familiar an unimpressed look, as if they both didn't know that she could get him out of there if she wanted to- no matter how gross a way it was- even as he opened the lunch box to see what treasures might lay inside.

Harry's mouth watered at the sight of a large club sandwhich and a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies, but his eyes couldn't stop looking at the accompanying bag of potato chips and can of soda. It took him a moment to realize why he found them so fascinating: their lables were in English.

 _§ At least I now know that wherever in the world we are it's somewhere that speaks English. §_ Harry mused out loud to his Familiar, only just then realizing that he might have ended up somewhere where no one spoke his language.

The worm stuck out a tongue to caress his hair once more in a comforting way.

 _§ That is one less thing to worry about then. §_ She pulled her tongue back _. § Now eat up, you need to keep your strength up if you're to make good your escape. §_ The worm commanded as she pulled back into her tunnel to go find herself something to eat as well.

 _§ Yes, mom. §_ Harry muttered with an eyeroll, secretly pleased to be fussed over, even as he opened the bag of cookies to do as told.


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: Another chapter! :-D_

 _And in case anyone thinks to ask: The folks in Perfection refer to El Blanco as a 'he' because they don't know any better yet, but they will. :-)_

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing! Nothing!**

 _§ parsletongue §_

Harry smiled as he swum under his Familiar and just out of reach of her tongues. He'd been shocked when she had finally fully emerged from her tunnel and he had seen how big she actually was, as big or bigger than an elephant- he was SO glad he'd had a large Core to start out with, he'd have hated to have ended up like that poor near-Squib- and was still amazed that a creature her size, and without the ability to go invisible, had gone so long undocumented by the Wizarding World.

 _§ We probably ate all those who would have documented us. From what you've seen Wizards in general don't seem to be able to deal with new situations very easily, and a large underground animal tracking them by sound would be entirely new to them. §_

Harry had soon gotten over his shock when she had entered the water and splashed him, coaxing him away from his books to have a little relaxing fun. Two Bubble Head charms later- it had been an experience casting a charm big enough to cover her whole head, but he didn't want to chance her drowning even if she did say that that wasn't likely- and a renewal of the Night Light spell he'd placed at the bottom of the lake to make it glow so he didn't have to cast a Lumos each time he swam, and he was pulled into a game of tag.

He knew that his Familiar was simply playing with him with all her near misses, she was much too fast to have not gotten him on her first strike if she had wanted, but he appreciated her restraint as it kept the game going. She was just so caring over him.

And that was where his dilemma was.

He had been trying to think of a name for her for a week now- her new intellegence allowed her to understand the passing of time, something she relayed to him as the days passed- ever since he'd made her his Familiar, and now knew what he wanted to call her but didn't know if it would be appropriate or if she would accept it. He'd been burying himself in his books to look for a way out so he wouldn't have to think about it.

But now, exhaustedly crawliing out of the lake, sitting on the shore with his Familar's head in his lap like an overgrown lap dog- he couldn't stop himself from petting her beak like mouth in this position, she at least didn't seem to mind it- as the rest of her massive body floated in the water behind her looking like the body of a great white whale, Harry finally raised the subject.

 _§ What do you think of the name Lily? §_ Harry blurted before bitting his lip, he hadn't meant to just come out and say it like that.

 _§ Like your Mother? §_ His Familiar asked after a long moment of silence, clearly understanding the weight the name would carry.

 _§ Yes. I... I don't have any memories of her beyond the night she died, but those who have spoken about her say that she was a brilliant Witch... and a caring Mother. §_ Harry bit his lip again and looked away, even knowing she couldn't actually see him he was still too embarrassed over his strong emotions on this subject to look her in the 'face' _. § You act a lot like how I had always dreamed my Mother might act if I had been raised by her: caring and kind yet stern when it's for my benifit in some way, a listener who never judges but still sets me right when I'm wrong, §_ Harry thought of their long talks about Ron and how what they had wasn't a healthy friendship but an easy way for a slacker to gain quick fame, their talks about Dumbledore had been even more delusion breaking as he finally saw his hero for the manipulative creep he was instead of the kindly grandfather he'd thought the Headmaster had been, _§ and someone who spoils me with treats and helps me have fun when I need a break but still expects me to do my own work. I... I can't think of a better name for you than to name you after the woman who had once been set to do all that for me. §_ Harry sat waiting in trepidation for his Familiar's reaction to his words for what felt like hours, but could only have been a few minutes, before she finally wrapped her tongues around him in a light hug and answered him.

 _§ I would be honored to carry your Mother's name, Harry. I will do her proud. §_ The newly named Lily then gave Harry a tight hug with her tongues before pulling them back and making her cumbersome way out of the water and back to her tunnels. _§ This calls for a celebration! §_

Harry just watched as his Familiar, as Lily, left; a smile pulling at his lips before a shiver wracked his body. Without Lily's body heat to keep him warm the cavern's cool air was too cold for his wet skin.

Casting several spells to get dry and warm before pulling on his clothes, Harry chose a different book than the one he had previously been reading. If he remembered right from when he'd first gone through it, right at the beginning of settlling into his cave, there was a spell somewhere in the back of Living in the Rough that would dry him off and warm him up right out of the water that he could apply before going for a swim rather than having him casting multiple spells on himself while he dripped in the cool air.

He berated himself for not looking it up again sooner as it seemed such a useful spell.

Opening the book to the last section of the book, titled 'Glamping', Harry began reading. He'd read through it before but had only really paid attention to what would be immediately useful as he set up his 'camp'-just a softened patch of dirt, a latrine spell on a hole he had dug and some water repelling wards around his books- in the middle of his cave, now it was time to see what else might be useful, beyond a drying spell that is.

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

Albus Dumbledore entered Gringotts, an appropriately saddened expression on his face over the 'tragic' news he bore and a Ministry Official at his side with all the proper paperwork, and ignored the glaring of the Goblins- far more intense than usual if he had only stopped to take note of it- as he moved up to the Head Teller.

"We have an appointment to see the Potter Account Manager in regards to the Estate of the late Harry Potter." Albus stated imperiously, expecting to be obeyed without question. The Golblin sneered nastily at the pair, causing the Ministry Official to flinch back while Dumbledore barely kept from rolling his eyes at the postering, before shouting for a guard to come lead them to the Potter Accountant.

If he had his way, and he would one day Albus mused to himself, all these Dark little creatures would be rounded up and put out of everyone's misery. That was a day the old Headmaster was greatly looking forward to.

After an absurdly long trip through the winding halls of the Bank, Albus was sure they had taken far more detours than was necessary and was mentally flaying their guide, the pair of Wizards were fianlly shown to the office of Daggerfist, the new Potter Account Manager.

"Where is Sharpfang? We were meant to see the Potter Account Manager to discuss the Will of the Late Harry Potter and the closing of his Family Vaults." Albus asked, put out at the unexpected change.

"Sharpfang was demoted for failure to follow Gringotts policy, I am Daggerfist and you will deal with me or get out." The Goblin snarled. Deciding he only had to deal with the new Goblin for a short while, Albus took a seat and motioned the Ministry Official to get on with it.

"Mister Potter has been missing for more than a month now due to a faulty Portkey during the last Task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, as he has been neither found nor made his presence known in that time it is the decision of the Ministry to declare him dead, have his Will- if one exists- read and his Family Estates and Lordship dissolved as there is no other Heir." Albus hid his grin at what he expected was coming.

He was named Executor of Harry Potter's Will and would receive the bulk of the boy's wealth, properties and Family Heirlooms. The rest of the Potter wealth and properties would be split up among his three Weasley helpers and a few others old Order members for their hard work in helping him mold the boy with only a few added details such as Ron Weasley taking over the ownership of the Chuddley Cannons- a team owned by the Potters since their formation- the Potter Heiress jewels going to young Ginevra Weasley in compensation for not getting the title of Lady Potter as she had wanted and the Potter House Elves being given to Molly Weasley so she could finally live the life of ease she had always dreamed of.

Young Hermione Granger may have been added into the Will if she hadn't had such a negative reaction in her first year to his mild suggestion that she coax the young Potter Heir away from learning certain subjects and help keep him ignorant of his Family's Heritage and his Place in Society.

Thankfully he was still quick with an Obliviate so no harm was done. One Compultion Charm later- Curse more like as it was so Dark in nature, and it only worked on someone with an organized mind or else he'd have used it on the boy directly, as well as many others- and the girl still did as he wanted, though he did have to renew the Compultion every few months or else his puppet would 'wake up' and realize what she had been made to do. But dealing with her could wait until the new school year began, he'd then wipe her mind just like Lockhart's had been and claim she had been experimenting with Spells she shouldn't have been in her grief over her friend's death.

So lost in his own smug musings was Albus that he didn't realize for several long seconds that the Golblin, after hearing the Official out, had given a resounding 'No.'

The Ministry Official spluttered in confusion even as Albus frowned at this hold up in his plans.

Daggerfist waited until the Official had calmed down and gone silent before elaborating.

"Gringotts closley monitors all our most prominent account holders, of which Heir Potter is one of. Something occured in the Potter Accounts some days ago, or which neither of you are authorized to know about, that indicates that not only is Heir Potter alive and well but also that a full Account Audit was long overdue." Daggerfist then turned to sneer horribly at the Headmaster of Hogwarts. "Is there anything you would like to say, Mr Dumbledore, before you are arrested for embezzling from a minor; attempted Line Theft; illegal usurpation, neglect and exploitation of Magical Guardianship duties; theft from Goblin property and an assortment of other miscellaneous crimes against a minor?" Several things happened in quick succession then as the Goblin finished speaking.

Dumbledore rose from his seat and pulled his Wand.

Three of the walls of the office fell away to reveal a horde of Goblin Warriors.

The Ministry Official wet himself and passed out.

And, unknown to all within the office due to the commotion, a small green beetle hidden in the folds of the Official's robes gave a cheer at the story she had just been handed on a silver platter.

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

Harry was sat staring at the book in his hands in stupification. The answer had been there the whole time, he'd even known it right from the beginning! He had just needed to 'think outside the box' to apply it to his situation.

In Living in the Rough, in the last section detailing glamping techniques- that is, camping in such style and comfort as you may as well have stayed home- was an entire chapter dedicated to building houses instead of open camps.

If one had enough Magical Power and Time they could build anything from a small house to an entire Manor in a rock formation, tree, dirt mound or cliffside using Wizarding Space- not to be confused with an Undetectable Expansion Charm that only enlarges an area inside something, Wizarding Space was designed to keep the air inside fresh and circulating so a person doesn't suffocate while within.

And in the case of cliffside building, one could even build upwards until they reached the top!

All Harry had to do now was treat a wall of his cave like a cliffside and start building up and he was out of here!

And he'd even manage to get a descent bathroom out of it too as he built and expanded until he reached ground level. Because while the latrine spells worked amazingly he'd still prefer to do such buisness further away from where he ate and slept!

Harry laughed to himself and wondered when Lily would return, he wanted to share the good news of his finally figuring it out!

HARRYPOTTERGRABOIDSHARRYPOTTER

Tyler was helping Jodi and Nancy bring in the newest delivery for the store- ice cream, so they had to move fast in the heat- when El Blanco made his first appearance in town in more than a month. Everyone stopped moving as they waited for him to pass through and leave again.

He didn't pass through and leave.

Tyler, who was standing at the back of the delivery truck, was knocked to the ground as El Blanco reared up out of the ground and began... rumaging around in the back of the truck with his tongues.

After several minutes the Graboid took two boxes and left, leaving town back in the direction he had come from.

Before anyone could do more than look at each other in shock their walkie talkies went off.

"Jodi, this is Burt. Did El Blanco make a stop in town just now?" Jodi was still staring in shock at her rifled through shipment so Tyler answered for her.

"Burt, this Tyler, Jodi's a little shaken up right now and can't answer."

"What happened?"

"El Blanco... he... " Jodi finally snapped back into focus and grabbed the radio from the blonde man.

"Burt, he stole my merchandise!"

"What?"

"He stole two cases of ice cream, Burt! How did he know to do that? Why would he do that?!"

"I don't know but I'm coming into town, we need to have a discussion about El Blanco's new hobby."

"We'll get everyone rounded up."

"Roger that. Burt out."


End file.
